Fear
Of Sharks
One
of my biggest fears is a fear of sharks. Just like any other
typical girl, I am also afraid of just about every little bug
there is, but when it comes to bigger things, I would definitely
say sharks would be it. For as long as I can remember, I have
hated swimming in the ocean. On family vacations, I was always
terrified to go any deeper than my knees, and occasionally, if
I felt daring, maybe my waist. While everyone else was swimming
where they couldn't even touch the bottom, I would stand as close
to the beach as possible. I'm not even sure how I developed this
fear of getting eaten by sharks. Maybe it was the countless number
of times that I have watched Jaws with my brothers, or just hearing
or reading about shark attacks. Although it is not the most common
thing, I have always felt that I would be that rare occasion.
I love going to the beach and going boating and jet skiing, but
I would much rather do those things on a lake, rather than any
ocean.
Just this past
summer, while I was on vacation with one of my friend's families, I refused
to swim in the ocean. Just a week before we had gotten to our condo, we
heard that there had been a shark caught near the beach we were staying
at. We had planned to go jet skiing, which I had waited all summer to
do, but decided not to because of the shark being caught. I have tried
getting over this fear a few times, but it just doesn't seem to work.
One year I was even talked into parasailing over the ocean. This was so
that I could see that there was nothing really to be afraid of. Wrong.
I wasn't really afraid of the height. It was more the idea of the parachute
breaking and me falling all the way into the water where sharks would
be. Maybe overtime, I will get over this fear, or at least I'm hoping.
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Shark attacks and statistics:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bilsons/Sharks8.htm
http://www.sharkattacks.com/
http://www.mote.org/~rhueter/sharks/attacks.phtml
Safety Tips to Avoid Shark
Attacks:
1. Always try to stay
in groups when swimming. Sharks tend to
attack individuals
more frequently.
2. Avoid deep water
at night. This is the time of day when sharks
are most active.
3. Stay out of the
water if you are bleeding. Sharks have a very keen
sense of smell and
are drawn to blood.
4. Try to avoid wearing
shiny objects. Sharks may mistake the glare
for a scales on a
fish.
Pictures and information
on sharks:
http://search.gallery.yahoo.com/search/corbis?p=sharks&r=all
http://www.sharksurvivor.com/
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